Year: 2010

DIY Square reader keychain stash

Square, Inc. makes a magstripe reader that attaches to your smartphone’s minijack and allows you to process credit card transactions with their handy service. It’s a pretty cool setup if you’re interested in payment processing. When you’re not using it though, you’re stuck with this eraser-sized plastic fob that you really don’t know what to do with. It’s small enough to put in your pocket, but it’s a little too important to accidentally let go through the wash, yet you want to keep it handy for when you’ll need it.

MAKE subscriber Steve Cooley may be onto a suitable solution to this problem. Using a dab of Shapelock, a key ring, and a rubber band, he’s fashioned a custom key fob stash that fits the Square reader like a glove. It’s a little kludgy, but it’s a great proof of concept.

Make a knife from an old saw blade

Make a knife from an old saw blade

Ever since I made my first ninja throwing star in metal shop class, I’ve always wanted to make my own knife. But I was put off by the notion of having to acquire the furnace, anvil, leather apron, and handlebar mustache requisite for forging a proper tempered blade. So, instead I decided to make a utility knife by cutting out a pattern from a circular saw blade, using my Dremel Rotary Tool.

Hydropower from a public fountain

Hydropower from a public fountain

An artist who builds machines, I’m constantly dealing with the issue of how I can power my devices. Usually, I make it the old school way, simply using sockets in the wall of the gallery. But this project in Belgium happened in a public park, where no electricity was available. As there was a huge fountain, Jari and me decided to tap its hydropower and to generate electricity with it, as we found this far more elegant than using batteries. Furthermore, it was fitting conceptually to the devices that we were powering with the large fountain: It was some tiny private fountains that we rented out to visitors of the park.I think the concept of recycling energy which is available in the city anyway has a lot of potential.

Brad Litwin’s MechaniCards

One of my favorite exhibitors at World Maker Faire was Brad Litwin, who does exquisitely-crafted, whimsical kinetic sculptures. I gave him one of my Editor’s Choice Blue Ribbons. Now, Brad is selling these wonderful crank-powered “MechaniCards.” What a nifty gift. They sell for $45 assembled, $35 for a kit. [Via Boing Boing] MechaniCards More: Brad […]